Environmentally  responsive shipping selection

ABSTRACT

The selection of a shipping option responsive to an environmental preference is enabled. A user may indicate a shipping criteria preference including an environmental impact weighting. A cost value of each of a plurality of shipping options is determined including an environmental impact cost. A shipping option is selected and implemented for a shipping of an item as a function of the indicated environmental impact weighting. Each of the plurality of shipping option cost values may be dynamically recalculated and the status of at least one of the shipping options updated, the updating determining a change in value a shipping option cost value, an implemented selected shipping option changed to another of the plurality of shipping options as a function of the status updating.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/271,301, filed Nov. 14, 2008.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally describes methods, systems and devicesfor enabling consumers to select shipping options responsive toenvironmental impact data and parameters.

BACKGROUND

Shoppers may be offered multiple shipping options for an order, witheach of the options commonly differentiated with respect to cost andspeed of delivery. However, consumers may wish to base their shippingdecisions upon other factors. For example, consumers may wish todetermine and consider the relative environmental impacts or costs ofshipping options, in some instances opting for slower and/or moreexpensive shipping options in exchange for environmental impact costreductions.

In another aspect, information on shipping option costs and attributesare generally provided by shipping cost and rate algorithms usingpredetermined, preset and/or static input data to produce cost or timeestimates as a function of order attributes (such as item weight andsize). Such data and algorithms are not responsive to changingconditions that may affect the actual cost or speed or other attributeof a given shipping option.

SUMMARY

Methods are provided for enabling the selection of a shipping optionresponsive to an environmental preference. More particularly, a user ofthe method indicates a shipping criteria preference, the preferenceincluding an environmental impact weighting. According to the presentinvention a cost value of each of a plurality of shipping options isdetermined, each of the plurality of shipping option cost valuesincluding an environmental impact cost. One of the presented pluralityof shipping options is selected and implemented for shipping of an itemas a function of the indicated environmental impact weighting. Inanother aspect each of the plurality of shipping option cost values aredynamically recalculated and the status of at least one of the shippingoptions updated, the updating determining a change in value a shippingoption cost value, wherein an implemented selected shipping option maybe changed to another of the plurality of shipping options as a functionof the status updating.

In another aspect, service methods are provided including deployingapplications for enabling the selection of a shipping option responsiveto an environmental preference according to the method steps describedabove, for example by a service provider who offers to implement,deploy, and/or perform functions for others. Still further, articles ofmanufacture including a computer usable medium having a computerreadable program in said medium are provided. Such program code includesinstructions which, when executed on a computer system, cause thecomputer system to perform one or more method and/or process elementsdescribed above for enabling the selection of a shipping optionresponsive to an environmental preference. Moreover, systems, articlesand programmable devices configured for performing one or more methodand/or process elements of the current invention are also provided forenabling the selection of a shipping option responsive to anenvironmental preference, for example as described above.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

These and other features of the methods, systems and devices accordingto the present application will be more readily understood from thefollowing detailed description of the various aspects of the aspectstaken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which:

FIG. 1 is block illustration of an implementation of a Green ShippingModule according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a flow chart illustrating a method and system for enabling theselection of a shipping option responsive to an environmental preferenceaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a system or device configured to enable theselection of a shipping option responsive to an environmental preferenceaccording to the present invention.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating a computerized deviceimplementation of a method and system for enabling the selection of ashipping option responsive to an environmental preference according tothe present invention.

The drawings are not necessarily to scale. The drawings are merelyschematic representations not intended to portray specific parameters ofthe invention. The drawings are intended to depict only typical aspectsof the invention, and therefore should not be considered as limiting thescope of the invention. In the drawings, like numbering represents likeelements.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

The present application discloses systems, methods, devices and programproducts for enabling the selection of a shipping option responsive toan environmental preference. In some aspects a shipping servicerequester or user is enabled to select environmentally sensitiveshipping options for a shipped item. Examples of users include consumersin a business-to-consumer scenario with an on-line retailer orwholesaler customers purchasing products from e-commerce sites, as wellas buyers representing one or more corporate entities inbusiness-to-business purchasing contexts, and other appropriate exampleswill be apparent to one skilled in the art. Real-time route tracking andmaintenance may automatically recalculate cost, time and environmentalimpact in the case of an unexpected event, in one aspect allowing a userto make decisions during shipping to maintain environmental criteria.

Though it is known to offer shipping service users multiple options forshipping an order differentiated by price or speed of delivery, no priorart system or method teaches differentiating shipping options, andenabling users to responsively select shipping options, based onenvironmental impacts. More particularly, e-commerce sites generally usepreset shipping rates based on product attributes such as weight andsize, and do not query shipping providers for real-time quotes duringthe customer check-out process. The present invention extends shippingselection criteria into environmental impact costs through incorporatingreal-time shipping provider cost estimate queries into the shippingselection process, in some aspects by putting a shipping job out to bidto multiple shipping providers in real-time during a customer check-outprocess.

For example, FIG. 1 illustrates one aspect of the present inventionwherein a Green Shipping Module (GSM) 10 interfaces between vendors 12and shipping companies 14, acting as middleman between the plurality ofvendors 12 and shipping companies 14 in selecting and implementing theshipping of items for one or more users (shoppers) 16. It will also beappreciated that in other aspects the GSM 10 may be associated with oneor more particular vendors 12 and shipping companies 14. Some GSM 10aspects includes the use of Hypertext Mark-up Language (HTML),Extensible Mark-up Language (XML) or other code buttons pasted into aweb page of an e-commerce website, wherein when a user of said websitewishes to finalize an order the user clicks on or otherwise selects thecode button and is then transported to an ordering system of the GSM 10to complete the transaction and implement shipping.

Consumers and other shipping users are becoming more environmentallyconscious, yet prior art shipping methods and systems are not responsiveto this issue. It is possible to measure the environmental impact ofshipping items, including determining a “carbon footprint” of making andshipping certain products. A carbon footprint may be defined as ameasure of the impact an activity has on the environment, and inparticular with regard to the amount of greenhouse gases produced inburning fossil fuels for electricity, heating and transportation, etc.,in effecting the activity. Greenhouse gases are believed to impact theenvironment through causing climate change, and thus it has become knownto quantify the carbon footprint of an activity as the measurement ofgreenhouse gases produced, typically as an equivalent of carbon dioxidegases generated in units of tons or kilograms. More particularly,systems and methods according to the present invention enable a user tospecify and enable the selection of an environmentally-friendly shippingoption, for example by comparing the carbon footprints of each of aplurality of shipping options and selecting an option having arelatively lower or lowest carbon footprint.

Referring now to FIG. 2, a method or system for enabling the selectionof a shipping option responsive to an environmental preference accordingto the present invention is illustrated. At 102 a user indicates ashipping criteria preference, the preference including an environmentalimpact weighting. The indication may include one or more priorities interms of price, time-to-deliver and environmental impact. Thus, someshipping may be designated as “green shipping” options, wherein a greenshipping option has a lower environmental impact cost relative toanother non-green shipping option. The environmental impact criteria maybe expressed in many ways, with some examples including a binaryselection (e.g., an indication to consider a green option or to notconsider such an option), or a continuum or sliding scale (e.g.manipulating a sliding bar means to indicate a relative level of greenconsideration along a spectrum of possible levels).

Specific values, or ranges or thresholds of values (for example, maximumor minimum possible values or ranges thereof) of shipping option carbonfootprint values may also be provided at 102, thus specifying theinclusion or exclusion of one or more shipping options inside or outsideof specified values, thresholds or ranges. In another aspect a userranks, weights or orders a set of available criteria with respect torelative application or importance. Thus, in a ranked or weighted factoraspect including a set of price, environmental impact andtime-to-delivery factors, a first user may rank the factors with “lowestprice” the first and most heavily weighted factor, “lowest environmentalimpact” as second in relative importance or weighting, and “fastestdelivery time” as the third and relatively least important or weightedfactor, in contrast, another second user may order them differently,selecting “lowest environmental impact” first, “fastest delivery time”second and “lowest cost” third.

At 104 a cost value of each of a plurality of identified shippingoptions are determined, for example through the Green Shipping Module(GSM) 10 of FIG. 1, wherein each of the cost values includes anenvironmental impact cost for each respective shipping option, thecriteria supplied by the user at 102 further used to determine possibleshipping options. In some aspects, cost values are calculated at 104 asa function of an environmental impact weighting indicated at 102, and insome examples shipping options are ranked and/or select as a function ofindicated weightings. At 108 one of the plurality of options is selectedand implemented for shipping an item. This selection may occurautomatically, for example as a function of an indicated preference orimpact weighting value selection. Or it may be manually entered by auser presented with a display of options at 106, for example from a listranked as function of the indicated weighting. A user may also manuallyoverride an automatic selection indicated at 106. However, it will beunderstood that displaying one or more possible shipping options to auser at 106 is optional, and this may be omitted in some aspects.

It is to be understood that if trade-offs must be made among multiplecriteria, in some cases not all criteria may be met perfectly indetermining options and costs at 104, presenting options at 106 orselecting options at 108. For example, if no shipper is able to satisfya user-specified criteria (for example, as specific weighting of lowprice, fast delivery and low environmental impact) then recommendationsmay be made for a best-possible option based on said unsatisfiedspecification or priorities. Aspects may also prevent users frominputting invalid specification combinations, for example rejecting agiven carbon footprint, cost and delivery time value selection if noshipping provider can meet the selection.

In another aspect, shipping options may be determined at 104 based onstatic variables set for ordered criteria and applied to previouslyidentified or known services. Static variables available for criteriaordering 102 may thus be applied to previously identified services at104 wherein shipping price, time and projected environmental impactvalues are determined based on information already known and stored byan e-commerce site or Green Shipping Module (GSM) 10 (FIG. 1).

In some aspects, shipping options may be determined dynamically at 104,for example a Green Shipping Module 10 (FIG. 1) querying the one or moreshipping providers 14 (FIG. 1). Thus, a web service may be used to queryshipping companies to display their best option for parameters given (asprovided at or derived from the criteria supplied by the user at 102).In another aspect, dynamic calculation may be extended by providing foran extended time for response from the shipping entities: for example,if the user is willing to wait some specified time period after aninitial calculation and return of shipping options at 104 for updateddata, then it may be discovered that one shipping provider has newlyidentified a truck with available capacity, wherein using thatnewly-identified truck capacity may result in a lowered carbon footprintrelative to other shipping options, and thus a lower carbon footprintmay be achieved in shipping the item by selecting the newly-discoveredand updated option.

In some aspects, shipping options may be determined dynamically at 104by putting a delivery service request out to bid to a plurality ofshipping providers, for example by the Green Shipping Module (GSM) 10(FIG. 1) to the shippers 14 (FIG. 1). This aspect enables deliveryservices to “bid” based on price, environmental impact and delivery timewith each transaction. Such point-in-time bids may also provide data forshipping options formatted for direct presentation to the user, in someexamples with price quotes passed directly through to the user throughan e-commerce checkout or item purchase page on a retailer web page. Inanother aspect, an item provider or website may also preemptivelyrequest a price or bid for a pending order during or prior to a checkoutprocess, in this fashion obtaining a bid for immediate offer to apurchaser at checkout or when the purchaser otherwise indicates that heor she is ready to complete the business transaction.

In another aspect, incentives may also be offered to a user inpresenting options at 106 in order to induce a user to select a specificshipping offer, for example to select or prefer a green shipping option,merchant or shipping company over another, less-costly option.Incentives may be monetary or non-monetary, as well as offered andgranted on-the-spot at a selection at 108, or subsequently at completionof shipping of an item, for example at 126 discussed below.

At 110 the status of the shipped item, as well as the cost values of oneor more of the offered shipping options, are dynamically ascertained,updated and recalculated, and it is determined whether a change in theitem shipping status or a shipping item cost value has occurred. If nochange in a cost or shipping status is determined, or no change occursgreater than a minimum or de minimis delta or threshold value used todefine a change event occurrence, then the selected shipping optionimplementation continues until the shipping of the item is complete at124. However, if a change is determined at 110, then at 112 a pluralityof shipping options currently available are identified and at 114 theassociated cost values of each of the current plurality, as well as ofthe present implemented shipping option, are each determined orre-determined, each of the shipping option cost values again includingan environmental impact cost for each respective shipping option.

More particularly, tracking at 110 of an item progressing through ashipping option selected and implemented at 108 includes determiningupdates or changes to environmental impact costs and factors relevant toshipping of the item. Thus, a user may be notified of changes in plansfor shipping the package, for example due to a change in fuel supply oran availability within a particular transport system, including aresultant change in the environmental impact costs or benefits of theimplemented (or other available and non-implemented) shipping option. Insome aspects, service providers may use a tracking interface toadvertise green shipping impact, history, philosophy, etc. data andinformation to a user in hopes of incenting the user to retain theservice provider.

Many parameters useful in determining an environmental impact ofshipping an item from one location to another are dynamic in nature, andfurther dependent upon real-time, variable conditions, includingweather, supply, demand, natural disasters, etc. In one aspect thepresent invention enables users, shipping providers or consumers todynamically modify shipping options to account for changing conditions.Thus, if a change in shipping option costs or performance parameters isdetermined at 110, then new shipping options are evaluated anddetermined at 112 and the cost values of each are determined orre-determined at 114. In some aspects, a shipper, shipping service orautomated process (for example a GSM 10 of FIG. 1) may automaticallymake an appropriate shipping selection revision or choice at 116 inresponse to the criteria provided earlier at 102, and shipping of theitem may be completed accordingly at 124. Thus, in one example, ashipping option available and ranked next-best pursuant to rankings orpriorities provided at 102 is selected and implemented at 116.

In some aspects, a user may also be notified of the change in optionsand costs at 118 and presented with another shipping selection option,or criteria input or revision opportunity. Thus, the user may thenrespond at 120, for example confirming a current, previously selectedshipping option, selecting and implement a new option presented at 116,and further in some cases inputting a new ranking or priority preferencein order to generate another evaluation of options at 112, costdetermination at 114 and notification/display of options at 116.Shipping of the item is completed accordingly at 124. If no response isreceived at 118 from the user notification at 116, then at 122 thepresent aspect defaults to a shipper, shipping service or automatedprocess (for example a GSM 10 of FIG. 1) automatically making anappropriate shipping selection revision or choice at 116.

Thus, in one example, a severe weather situation occurrence may cause ashipping service provider to choose whether to (a) consume a largercarbon footprint in rerouting a truck carrying a shipped item; (b) movethe item to an airplane in an alternate shipping mode choice, thisoption having a different carbon footprint, monetary and/or deliverytime cost; or (c) leave the item on the truck and delay shipment untilthe weather condition has abated, thus increasing delivery time whileholding carbon footprint and monetary costs constant relative to option(a). The consumer/user may thus be contacted at 118 and queried as towhich option should be implemented, for example being notified thatselection of option (c) will result in a one-day delivery time delay butat the lowest carbon footprint cost relative to options (a) or (b), andwherein electing option (b) will reroute and deliver the item on-time atan additional cost of two dollars (US$2.00).

In another aspect, users may be rewarded for making appropriate shippingpreferences and choices with respect to environmental impacts and othercharacteristics. Accordingly, at 126 a user may be provided with areward amount as a function of selecting shipping choices havingrelatively lower or beneficial environmental impact costs. Thus, in oneexample, a benefit rewarded at 126 is calculated as a function of thenet difference of an environmental impact of a chosen shipping optionover one or more faster or cheaper but more environmentally costlyoptions offered at 106 or 118.

Long-term incentives may also be offered for electing to use greenshipping options according to the present invention, wherein trackingmechanisms, including cookies and saved user settings may be read by ane-commerce or shipping server provider site to maintain a history of theconsumer's green shipping habits, and wherein rewards may beresponsively provided to a user at 126 at the completion of eachshipping transaction. Incentives provided for current or past/historicgreen shipping selections may include discounts on goods or services,designation of a special preferential status relative to othernot-so-green users and customers, advertisement or other public noticeof the user's environmentally-friendly behavior, coupons, points thatmay be redeemed for goods or services, and offers for special sales andevents correlated with an optimized “green shipping periods,” and stillother incentives and rewards will be apparent to one skilled in the art.

FIG. 3 illustrates a programmable device or module 200 configured toenable the selection of a shipping option responsive to an environmentalpreference according to the present invention. The device 200 may beincorporated into a large system wherein other components of the systemaccomplish systems and methods according to the present invention, or itmay be a stand-alone device or module configured to perform each of thesystems and methods, such as the Green Shipping Module (GSM) 10 ofFIG. 1. The present aspect includes a central processing unit (CPU) orother processing means 201 in communication with a memory 203, thememory 203 including logic components that enable the CPU 201 to performprocesses and methods according to the present application. The memory203 includes a shipping option determiner logic component 202, thedeterminer configured to determined costs associated with each option asdiscussed above with respect to FIGS. 1 and 2; a user interface logiccomponent 204, configured to interact with a user by providingnotifications of shipping options, costs, changes, etc., and to receivecriteria and selection inputs from the user as discussed above withrespect to FIGS. 1 and 2; and a reward engine logic component 206,configured to directly or indirectly cause the awarding of incentives toa user, for example through exchanging reward data with an externalreward service entity, and further as discussed above with respect toFIGS. 1 and 2. A power unit 205 is configured to provide operative powerto the device 200; examples include battery units 205 and power inputsconfigured to receive alternating or direct current electrical power,and other appropriate power units 205 will be apparent to one skilled inthe art. A communication port or network link/node means 207 is alsoprovided and configured to enable network and other communications withother devices, systems, monitoring, administrative and service providerentities, as well as others as appropriate.

Referring now to FIG. 4, an exemplary computerized implementationincludes a computer system 304 deployed within a computer infrastructure308 such as a computer or a programmable device such as a personaldigital assistant (PDA) or cellular phone. This is intended todemonstrate, among other things, that the present invention could beimplemented within a network environment 340 (e.g., the Internet, a widearea network (WAN), a local area network (LAN), a virtual privatenetwork (VPN), etc.) in communication with one or more additionalcomputers 336, or on a stand-alone computer infrastructure 308. In thecase of the former, communication throughout the network 340 can occurvia any combination of various types of communication links. Forexample, the communication links can include addressable connectionsthat may utilize any combination of wired and/or wireless transmissionmethods. Where communications occur via the Internet, connectivity couldbe provided by conventional TCP/IP sockets-based protocol, and anInternet service provider could be used to establish connectivity to theInternet.

As shown, the computer system 304 includes a central processing unit(CPU) 312, a memory 316, a bus 320, and input/output (I/O) interfaces324. Further, the computer system 304 is shown in communication withexternal I/O devices/resources 328 and storage system 332. In general,the processing unit 312 executes computer program code, such as the codeto implement various components of the process and systems, and devicesas illustrated in FIGS. 1-3 and described above, including the shippingoption determiner logic component 202, the user interface logiccomponent 204, and the reward engine logic component 206 discussedabove, which are stored in memory 316 and/or storage system 332. It isto be appreciated that two or more, including all, of these componentsmay be implemented as a single component.

While executing computer program code, the processing unit 312 can readand/or write data to/from the memory 316, the storage system 332, and/orthe I/O interfaces 324. The bus 320 provides a communication linkbetween each of the components in computer system 304. The externaldevices 328 can include any devices (e.g., keyboard, pointing device,display, etc.) that enable a user to interact with computer system 304and/or any devices (e.g., network card, modem, etc.) that enablecomputer system 304 to communicate with one or more other computingdevices.

The computer infrastructure 308 is only illustrative of various types ofcomputer infrastructures for implementing the invention. For example, inone aspect, computer infrastructure 308 includes two or more computingdevices (e.g., a server cluster) that communicate over a network toperform the various process steps of the invention. Moreover, computersystem 304 is only representative of various possible computer systemsthat can include numerous combinations of hardware.

To this extent, in other aspects, the computer system 304 can includeany specific purpose-computing article of manufacture including hardwareand/or computer program code for performing specific functions, anycomputing article of manufacture that includes a combination of specificpurpose and general-purpose hardware/software, or the like. In eachcase, the program code and hardware can be created using standardprogramming and engineering techniques, respectively. Moreover, theprocessing unit 312 may include a single processing unit, or bedistributed across one or more processing units in one or morelocations, e.g., on a client and server. Similarly, the memory 316and/or the storage system 332 can include any combination of varioustypes of data storage and/or transmission media that reside at one ormore physical locations.

Further, I/O interfaces 324 can include any system for exchanginginformation with one or more of the external device 328. Still further,it is understood that one or more additional components (e.g., systemsoftware, math co-processing unit, etc.) not shown in FIG. 4 can beincluded in computer system 304. However, if computer system 304includes a handheld device or the like, it is understood that one ormore of the external devices 328 (e.g., a display) and/or the storagesystem 332 could be contained within computer system 304, not externallyas shown.

The storage system 332 can be any type of system (e.g., a database)capable of providing storage for information under the presentinvention. To this extent, the storage system 332 could include one ormore storage devices, such as a magnetic disk drive or an optical diskdrive. In another aspect, the storage system 332 includes datadistributed across, for example, a local area network (LAN), wide areanetwork (WAN) or a storage area network (SAN) (not shown). In addition,although not shown, additional components, such as cache memory,communication systems, system software, etc., may be incorporated intocomputer system 304.

While shown and described herein as a method and a system, it isunderstood that the invention further provides various alternativeaspects. For example, in one aspect, the invention provides acomputer-readable/useable medium that includes computer program code toenable a computer infrastructure to implement methods, systems anddevices according to the present application, for example as illustratedin FIGS. 1-4 above and described otherwise herein. To this extent, thecomputer-readable/useable medium includes program code that implementseach of the various process steps of the present application.

It is understood that the terms “computer-readable medium” or “computeruseable medium” include one or more of any type of physical aspect ofthe program code. In particular, the computer-readable/useable mediumcan include program code embodied on one or more portable storagearticles of manufacture (e.g., a compact disc, a magnetic disk, a tape,etc.), on one or more data storage portions of a computing device, suchas the memory 316 and/or the storage system 332 (e.g., a fixed disk, aread-only memory, a random access memory, a cache memory, etc.), and/oras a data signal (e.g., a propagated signal) traveling over a network(e.g., during a wired/wireless electronic distribution of the programcode).

Still yet, computer infrastructure 308 is intended to demonstrate thatsome or all of the components of implementation according to the presentapplication could be deployed, managed, serviced, etc. by a serviceprovider who offers to implement, deploy, and/or perform the functionsof the present invention for others, for example by licensing methodsand browser or application server technology to an internet serviceprovider (ISP) or a cellular telephone provider. In one aspect, theinvention may include a business method that performs the process stepsof the invention on a subscription, advertising, and/or fee basis. Thus,a service provider can create, maintain, support, etc., a computerinfrastructure, such as the computer infrastructure 308 that performsthe process steps of the present application for one or more customers,and in return the service provider can receive payment from thecustomer(s) under a subscription and/or fee agreement and/or the serviceprovider can receive payment from the sale of advertising content to oneor more third parties.

In still another aspect, the invention provides a computer-implementedmethod for enabling the processes, methods and devices according to thepresent application. In this case, a computer infrastructure, such ascomputer infrastructure 308, can be provided and one or more systems forperforming the process steps of the invention can be obtained (e.g.,created, purchased, used, modified, etc.) and deployed to the computerinfrastructure. To this extent, the deployment of a system can includeone or more of: (1) installing program code on a computing device, suchas computer system 304, from a computer-readable medium; (2) adding oneor more computing devices to the computer infrastructure; and (3)incorporating and/or modifying one or more existing systems of thecomputer infrastructure to enable the computer infrastructure to performthe process steps of the invention.

As used herein, it is understood that the terms “program code” and“computer program code” are synonymous and mean any expression, in anylanguage, code or notation, of a set of instructions intended to cause acomputing device having an information processing capability to performa particular function either directly or after either or both of thefollowing:

(a) conversion to another language, code or notation; and/or (b)reproduction in a different material form. To this extent, program codecan be embodied as one or more of: an application/software program,component software/a library of functions, an operating system, a basicI/O system/driver for a particular computing and/or I/O device, and thelike.

The foregoing description of various aspects of the invention has beenpresented for purposes of illustration and description. It is notintended to be exhaustive or to limit the invention to the precise formdisclosed, and obviously, many modifications and variations arepossible. Such modifications and variations that may be apparent to aperson skilled in the art are intended to be included within the scopeof the invention as defined by the accompanying claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for enabling the selection of a shippingoption responsive to an environmental preference, comprising: selectingand implementing via a central processing unit a highest ranked one of afirst ranked plurality of shipping options for a shipping of an item,wherein the plurality of shipping options are ranked in a first rankingas a function of shipping option cost values determined for each of theshipping options from at least one of environmental impact costs,shipping price costs and time-to-delivery costs; dynamicallyrecalculating the determined cost values of at least one of theplurality of shipping options during a shipping of the item by theimplemented highest ranked one of the first ranked plurality of shippingoptions; updating via the central processing unit the ranking of theplurality of shipping options to generate a second ranking of theshipping options that is different from the first ranking in response toa change in value of the recalculated at least one shipping option costvalues; and changing via the central processing unit the implementedselected shipping option during the shipping of the item from thehighest ranked one of the first ranking to another of the plurality ofshipping options that is ranked higher in the second updated ranking. 2.The method of claim 1, further comprising: integrating computer-readableprogram code into a computer system comprising the central processingunit, a computer readable memory and a computer readable storage medium,wherein the computer readable program code is embodied on the computerreadable storage medium and comprises instructions that, when executedby the central processing unit via the computer readable memory, causethe central processing unit to perform the steps of selecting andimplementing the highest ranked one of the first ranked plurality ofshipping options in the first ranking, dynamically recalculating thedetermined cost values of the at least one of the plurality of shippingoptions during the shipping of the item by the implemented highestranked one of the first ranked plurality of shipping options, updatingthe ranking of the plurality of shipping options to generate the secondranking of the shipping in response to the change in value of therecalculated at least one shipping option cost values; and changing theimplemented selected shipping option during the shipping of the itemfrom the highest ranked one of the first ranking to another of theplurality of shipping options that is ranked higher in the secondupdated ranking.
 3. The method of claim 1, further comprising at leastone of: notifying a user of the change in value of the at least one ofthe determined shipping option cost values; presenting the updatedsecond ranking of the plurality of shipping options to the user; andenabling the user to manually change the selected and implementedshipping option during the shipping of the item to the another of thepresented shipping options in the updated second ranking of theplurality of shipping options.
 4. The method of claim 3, wherein theupdating via the central processing unit the ranking of the plurality ofshipping options to generate the second ranking of the shipping optionsfurther comprises: providing for an extended time period for responsesof shipping option cost values from shipping option entities after aninitial calculation and return of the first ranking of the shippingoptions; discovering during the extended time period that the anothershipping option has newly available capacity for shipping the item;determining that using the newly available capacity in the anothershipping option results in a lower environmental impact cost for theshipping the item than using the selected and implemented shippingoption; and ranking the another shipping option higher than the selectedand implemented shipping option in the updated second ranking inresponse to determining the lowered environmental impact cost for theshipping the item using the newly available capacity.
 5. The method ofclaim 4, further comprising: tracking a progression of the item throughthe selected and implemented shipping option; determining changes toenvironmental impact costs relevant to shipping of the item in responseto a change in fuel supply or a change in availability within atransport system of the selected and implemented shipping option;informing the user of the determined changes to the environmental impactcosts; and enabling the user to retain the selected and implementedshipping option in response to the information of the determined changesto the environmental impact costs, instead of switching to the anotheroption that is ranked higher in the second rankings.
 6. The method ofclaim 5, further comprising: presenting the plurality of the shippingoptions to the user by presenting bids provided by at least one shippingvendor in response to a real-time query.
 7. The method of claim 5,further comprising: calculating a reward amount as a function of aweighting value of a user-indicated shipping preference environmentalimpact weighting or as a function of an environmental impact cost valueof a one of the plurality of shipping options manually selected by theuser; and providing the calculated reward amount to the user.
 8. Themethod of claim 7, wherein the calculating and providing the rewardamount comprises calculating and providing a long-term incentive asfunction of the user historically selecting shipping options with lowenvironmental impacts on a plurality of historic item orders, theincentive at least one of a monetary value, a discount on offered itemsand a point value redeemable for goods or services.
 9. An article ofmanufacture, comprising: a storage device comprising computer executableprogram code stored thereon, the program code comprising instructionswhich, when executed on a computer system, cause the computer system to:select and implement a highest ranked one of a first plurality ofshipping options to effect a shipping of an item, wherein the pluralityof shipping options are ranked in a first ranking as a function ofshipping option cost values determined for each of the shipping optionsfrom at least one of environmental impact costs, shipping price costsand time-to-delivery costs; dynamically recalculate the at least one ofthe plurality of shipping option determined cost values during ashipping of the item by the implemented highest ranked one of the firstranked plurality of shipping options; update the ranking of the shippingoptions to generate a second ranking of the shipping options that isdifferent from the first ranking in response to a change in value of therecalculated at least one of the determined shipping option cost values;and change the implemented selected shipping option during the shippingof the item from the highest ranked one of the first ranking to anotherof the plurality of shipping options that is ranked higher in the secondupdated ranking.
 10. The article of manufacture of claim 9, the programcode comprising instructions which, when executed on the computersystem, causes the computer system to: notify a user of the change invalue of the at least one of the determined shipping option cost valuesand of the updated second ranking of the presented plurality of shippingoptions; and enable the user to manually change the selected andimplemented shipping option during the shipping of the item to theanother of the plurality of shipping options presented in the updatedsecond ranking through an input to the computer system.
 11. The articleof manufacture of claim 10, the program code comprising instructionswhich, when executed on the computer system, causes the computer systemto update the ranking of the plurality of shipping options to generatethe second ranking of the shipping options by: providing for an extendedtime period for responses of shipping option cost values from shippingoption entities after an initial calculation and return of the firstranking of the shipping options; discovering during the extended timeperiod that the another shipping option has newly available capacity forshipping the item; determining that using the newly available capacityin the another shipping option results in a lower environmental impactcost for the shipping the item than using the selected and implementedshipping option; and ranking the another shipping option higher than theselected and implemented shipping option in the updated second rankingin response to determining the lowered environmental impact cost for theshipping the item using the newly available capacity.
 12. The article ofmanufacture of claim 11, the program code comprising instructions which,when executed on the computer system, causes the computer system to:track a progression of the item through the selected and implementedshipping option; determine changes to environmental impact costsrelevant to shipping of the item in response to a change in fuel supplyor a change in availability within a transport system of the selectedand implemented shipping option; inform the user of the determinedchanges to the environmental impact costs; and enable the user to retainthe selected and implemented shipping option in response to theinformation of the determined changes to the environmental impact costs,instead of switching to the another option that is ranked higher in thesecond rankings.
 13. The article of manufacture of claim 11, the programcode comprising instructions which, when executed on the computersystem, causes the computer system to: calculate a reward amount as afunction of a weighting value of an indicated shipping preferenceenvironmental impact weighting or as a function of an environmentalimpact cost value of a one of the plurality of shipping options manuallyselected by the user; and provide the calculated reward amount to theuser.
 14. A system, comprising: a central processing unit; a memory incommunication with the central processing unit that comprises a logiccomponent; and a network interface in communication with the centralprocessing unit and the memory; wherein the central processing unit:selects and implements a highest ranked one of a first plurality ofshipping options to effect a shipping of an item, wherein the pluralityof shipping options are ranked in a first ranking as a function ofshipping option cost values determined for each of the shipping optionsfrom at least one of environmental impact costs, shipping price costsand time-to-delivery costs; dynamically recalculates at least one of theplurality of shipping option determined cost values during the shippingof the item by the implemented highest ranked one of the first rankedplurality of shipping options; updates the ranking of the shippingoptions to generate a second ranking of the shipping options that isdifferent from the first ranking in response to a change in value of atleast one of the recalculated at least one shipping option cost values;and changes the implemented selected shipping option during the shippingof the item from the highest ranked one of the first ranking to anotherof the plurality of shipping options that is ranked higher in the secondranking as a function of the updated ranking.
 15. The system of claim14, wherein the central processing unit further: notifies a user of thechange in value of the at least one of the determined shipping optioncost values and of the updated second ranking of the presented pluralityof shipping options; and enables the user to manually change theselected and implemented shipping option during the shipping of the itemto the another of the plurality of shipping options presented in theupdated second ranking through an input to the system.
 16. The system ofclaim 15, wherein the central processing unit updates the ranking of theplurality of shipping options to generate the second ranking of theshipping options by: providing for an extended time period for responsesof shipping option cost values from shipping option entities after aninitial calculation and return of the first ranking of the shippingoptions; discovering during the extended time period that the anothershipping option has newly available capacity for shipping the item;determining that using the newly available capacity in the anothershipping option results in a lower environmental impact cost for theshipping the item than using the selected and implemented shippingoption; and ranking the another shipping option higher than the selectedand implemented shipping option in the updated second ranking inresponse to determining the lowered environmental impact cost for theshipping the item using the newly available capacity.
 17. The system ofclaim 16, wherein the central processing unit: tracks a progression ofthe item through the selected and implemented shipping option;determines changes to environmental impact costs relevant to shipping ofthe item in response to a change in fuel supply or a change inavailability within a transport system of the selected and implementedshipping option; informs the user of the determined changes to theenvironmental impact costs; and enables the user, via an input to thesystem, to retain the selected and implemented shipping option inresponse to the information of the determined changes to theenvironmental impact costs, instead of switching to the another optionthat is ranked higher in the second rankings.
 18. The system of claim16, wherein the central processing unit: calculates a reward amount as afunction of a weighting value of an indicated shipping preferenceenvironmental impact weighting or as a function of an environmentalimpact cost value of a one of the plurality of shipping options manuallyselected by the user via an input to the system; and provides thecalculated reward amount to the user.